Scientists believe the stories can damage youngsters’ ability to tell the difference between fact and fiction (Picture: PA)

Once upon a time, there was a bear who lived in the woods.

He had no ‘friends’ as such – and piglets, owls and donkeys were certainly not part of his social circle.

As to what adventures he went on, it would be foolish to speculate because – being unable to talk – he had no way of telling anyone about them. The end.

It’s a bedtime story that would have children asking ‘is that all?’

But it might be a healthier choice of tale for your offspring than classics such as Winnie-the-Pooh, according to new research.

Traditional stories hinder children’s learning by making them think animals wear clothes and interact like people, a new study claims. The authors also believe they can damage youngsters’ ability to tell the difference between fact and fiction in other areas of life.

‘We advise parents and teachers to use factual language when describing the biological world to young children,’ said Prof Patricia Ganea of Toronto University in Canada.

The researchers read factual animal books to one set of three to five-year-olds and fictional tales to another group. In tests later, children who’d heard the made-up stories were much more likely to say they thought animals could talk.

Parents need not stop reading children The Gruffalo or Watership Down but should ensure they are also exposed to factual animal books, the journal Frontiers in Psychology reports.